Been on wrong electric plan for 13 years.

Chuzzle

I have just changed supplier of my electric and it turns out that for the past 13 or so years (since I moved to this property) I have always been on the wrong tarif. Regardless of which supplier i have been with I have always been on Economy 7 but I don't have any storage heaters so Economy 7 has been an expensive waste of time.

Do you think it might be possible to get any money back? Surely at some point someone somewhere at the electricity suppliers should've pointed this out to me? Probably not tho

KimYeovil

It was your choice to subscribe to Economy 7. There are many people without storage heaters who use Economy 7 profitably. If it was not suitable for you you should have chosen an alternative. You are free to pursue yourself for some compensation.

spiro

13 years, 4 bills per year equates to 52 bills. Every one of those will have told you the tariff you are on which would have indiacted it was an E7 tariff. So as has been said, tell yourself off.

Plushchris

Economy 7 isnt a tariff anyway, its a type of meter which can then be applied to most different tariffs.

Also, if you havent checked your bills or done a comparison in 13 years then E7 or not you will have paid out far too much on your bills regardless.

Chuzzle

Thanks guys, I did kind of figure that would be the universal answer. Just guess I needed it confirmed. I was told by the salesperson that came round to change our supplier that I should seek compensation cos it wasn't my fault. I wasn't completely sure that he was telling the truth though - thought it was a long shot. But thanks for confirming what I knew already.

espresso

Chuzzle wrote: »

Thanks guys, I did kind of figure that would be the universal answer. Just guess I needed it confirmed. I was told by the salesperson that came round to change our supplier that I should seek compensation cos it wasn't my fault. I wasn't completely sure that he was telling the truth though - thought it was a long shot. But thanks for confirming what I knew already.

So you have now been signed up by a door to door salesman!

How do you know that you are on the best tariff?

Have you used any comparison websites? see here

What about the cashback that you could have received for switching?

You need to spend less time grading you bananas each week and spend more time money saving!

Cardew

Chuzzle wrote: »

I have just changed supplier of my electric
--
--
I was told by the salesperson that came round to change our supplier

If you have signed with a doorstep salesman, it is absolutely certain that there are cheaper tariffs available - even with the same company.

Look at the link provided by espresso above; you probably have a cooling off period to get out of the doorstep sale.

Terrylw1

You have to think of it this way, if you rewire your heating to say gch, how do they know? They would only notice that your off peak usage is lower than the expected breakeven point.

They should be doing more to pro actively seek the most appropriate tariff for you but overall in this situation, it's more important to your wallet than theirs though.

You could try and talk them into the "you are not advising me" argument, but it's a punt.

Suppliers do get advised to do things like this but it's one of those "nice to have's" isn't it.

lurkylurky

Well, OP, if it makes you feel any better, until last year I had been on E7 for 15 years. I phoned BG to log a meter reading but their system was down so I spoke to somebody and just thought I'd ask as a matter of interest how much my last bill would have been without E7. It would have been £30 cheaper. Over the 15 years my overpayments would have got me a Caribbean holiday. I did ask if I could claim any money back, even just the difference in the last bill, but no joy.

I had periodically done comparisons but always ticked the E7. I have moved tarriff's regularly - everytime BG introduced a new tariff. After reading your post this afternoon I did a comparison without E7 and I'd be better off moving supplier. And BG have introduced yet another websaver tariff while I wasn't watching.

zzzLazyDaisy

lurkylurky wrote: »

And BG have introduced yet another websaver tariff while I wasn't watching.

After a lifetime with BG I moved to another provider this year for exactly that reason - I was sick of playing 'catch up' with their on-line tariffs. Of course my new provider (Scottish Power) may prove to play the same games, but they paid me £120 through Topcashback to switch, so at least I feel that I'm ahead of the game.

Chuzzle

espresso wrote: »

So you have now been signed up by a door to door salesman!

How do you know that you are on the best tariff?

Have you used any comparison websites? see here

What about the cashback that you could have received for switching?

You need to spend less time grading you bananas each week and spend more time money saving!

Thanks for the condisending tone, for your info I did check the comparison sites and the salesman was from the same company that all the comparison sites said was my cheapest supplier. As for cashback I missed out this time but I do use cashback for everything else I purchase.